August 07, 2013

I love these videos! I'm thinking I may get a membership at Creative Bug. They are so well done. I've heard about them last year and watched a few when they were free, but I'm really thinking I need to join.

I started my Birth Photography site. Last year I shot several births, but then the pregnancy wore me out a bit. I'm hoping to really get going with it this fall.

Finished the school room. It came out just the way I wanted. Pics to follow.

August 01, 2013

I was scanning my twitter feed last week and was drawn to this Salon article about larger families, specifically celebrity and "rich" families. Guess it's trendy in NYC to have 4 plus kids, some kind of status symbol. I guess it's trendy, annoying and stressful to other parents to post about your children. I guess we've turned having kids into some sort of freakish fertility competition. I guess only rich people get to have lots of kids. What? Wrong.

I have four kids. I stay at home. We've been blessed that we could afford it. Afford me staying home AT ALL. Not the 4 kids part. That may not always be the situation, but for now yes. I have friends with 4, 5, and 6, kids. Most of these Moms have stayed home. They are NOT rich. Some have more financial means than others, but some live well below the poverty level. Sure it's stressful at times, but I doubt if any of them think having children is trendy or a luxury.

Once you decide to commodify having children, the attitude and language begin to change. You start to see children as part of your "personal production," Something you did or achieved. Our talk turns to the ROI of children, each one bearing its own portfolio of long-term safe strategies and quick rich schemes. Children find themselves in an either or situation: unnaturally tied to a parents self worth, obligated to achieve or produce certain results or else viewed as a hobby and once the intial glamour is worn left to forage through life with little support. The article addresses the lack of support for parents in the US, especially for mothers. We get little to no paid leave, child care is expensive, care-givers sorely unpaid so the stress of whom you are actually leaving your child with hovers over mothers at work likely reducing their actual work productivity.

We were close to moving to Austria last month and in our research regarding salary offerings and what we could afford, we found that in countries such as Germany and Austria (and in Scandivnaian countries) you actually receive some of your tax dollars back each month or two in payment to offset the costs of children. And in Finland EVERY mother gets one of these. I'm not sure these would fly in America, we're not very interested in ensuring women feel safe and protected during pregnancy and childbirth unless that support comes via a corporation trying to brand the new mother with its products.

Yes, children are expensive, but most of the time it's because we then have less to spend on ourselves. We don't get top have manicures and pricey handbags and designer clothes. Oh and trips, not so many vacations. Now some people can have kids and those things, but I think it's dishonest and damaging to assume you need lots of money to have kids. Women are already putting off children and marriage and then finding themselves stuck when those milestones seem impossible to achieve at middle age.

Part of me, the everybody have kids part, screams "Yay, it's about time larger families became trendy again!" But I'm also pragmatic enough to realize having a large family is not for everyone, it's hard work and it does come with a cost, costs some people aren't prepared to handle. I find though that the childhood moments I'm most nostalgic about center around times when there wasn't much money. The bike rides we took as a family, the Sunday drives, going to the park, eating a garden tomato stuffed with tuna salad, fishing, gathering with my extended family, listening to them laugh and shout over card games. This year we are taking a Staycation. I know my kids are going to be thrilled with the cheap treats in store, because they really just want our time and attention....and maybe a little candy.

July 26, 2013

We've had the wettest summer and coolest temps in my 13 years here. We've hardly had a day over 90 and it rains. every. day. Lake time has been less this year, but fun at the Grandparents lake house was had recently and the kids were able to have a couple of firsts. After passing the swim test they were able to use the water trampoline and go tubing. I love watching my big kids in the water!

July 22, 2013

This is our 4th schoolroom. Yes, that's right in THIS house we have had four school rooms. Do I just like to redecorate? Change things up? No. I just haven't made it work yet. Mostly because we always had kids not in school so it was part playroom/homeschool room. This year everyone but the baby of course will be official school age and I think after schooling at the kitchen table last year, I'm ready to designate a space again. So the old guest room is set to make it's debut. I'm going VERY simple this time with a small Kindy area for Jane and everything mostly organized in the closet. We'll see. I'll post the finished product in a few weeks, but for now...

July 20, 2013

What little girl isn't enamoured with mermaids? I was. Totally. Splash anyone? The Christmas before last Butter asked for this pink plastic mermaid fin and then the poor thing had to wait all winter and spring before she could try it out. Since we have a pool she was able to flip around all summer, but it was this spring when the big mermaid dreams were realized. We heard about these mermaid tails from a friend whose 10 yr old had one and from that moment on it was all she thought about and planned on getting for her birthday. The birthday AFTER pool season. It also just wasn't in the budget for me to just get it and well I'm also trying to make sure we don't, you know, fulfill their every desire. Butter is a saver and she realized how badly she wanted it that she even ponied up shipping. So after she turned over her hard earned cash we ordered the fin fun mermaid tail and the anxious wait began. I documented all the cute girl excitement, but here are a couple of pics of the coolest swim acessory ever.

July 18, 2013

I found this over at Uncommon Goods the other day. It's a Mother/Daughter box of letters with prompts. I began thinking about how important it is to write letters and how at one point I stopped doing it. I was woed once by a string of letters and my oldest pores over the notes I've written in her baby book. The only thing I ask the Professor to not forget is a card. I've written a few birthday letters to the kids, but they always feel so big, so I Must Make This So Super Meaningful Because It's Your Birthday kind of thing. I think I'd like to do something like this, but even more casual and less prompted of course, although this is great for making sure it actually gets done.

My kids have close friend who just moved to France so the letter writing around here is in full swing. I think this year I'm going to stock a stationary area. We are focusing a lot on writing this year, all the big stuff like outlines and research papers. This would be a fun break from that while still honing skills.

Who doesn't love mail? Nothing brings me to tears like a handmade card. So I say write to someone everyday, a note in a lunchbox, a postcard, a thank you note, even a text.